Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia thinks we have too many lawyers. He thinks young people should do something productive with their lives instead.

Heres Scalia:

"Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.

I mean thered be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isnt she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?"

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia thinks we have too many lawyers. He thinks young people should do something productive with their lives instead.

Heres Scalia:

"Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.

I mean thered be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isnt she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?"

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia thinks we have too many lawyers. He thinks young people should do something productive with their lives instead.

Heres Scalia:

"Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.

I mean thered be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isnt she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?"

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was trying to say that lawyers are far more productive than a Supreme Court Justice is.

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Productive? Supreme Court Justices do more in a day to develop the field of law that most lawyers in their lifetime. What is productivity? Filling motions at the courthouse? Drafting a contract or two?

The whole judicial system rests on those Supreme Court justices. I think they are very productive.

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was trying to say that lawyers are far more productive than a Supreme Court Justice is.

Click to expand...

Productive? Supreme Court Justices do more in a day to develop the field of law that most lawyers in their lifetime. What is productivity? Filling motions at the courthouse? Drafting a contract or two?

The whole judicial system rests on those Supreme Court justices. I think they are very productive.

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Lawyers provide a beneficial service to people on a daily basis in the private sector, whereas Supreme Court justices are given life tenure to slowly and incrementally remove the liberty of the very people who pay their salary.

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was trying to say that lawyers are far more productive than a Supreme Court Justice is.

Click to expand...

Productive? Supreme Court Justices do more in a day to develop the field of law that most lawyers in their lifetime. What is productivity? Filling motions at the courthouse? Drafting a contract or two?

The whole judicial system rests on those Supreme Court justices. I think they are very productive.

Click to expand...

Lawyers provide a beneficial service to people on a daily basis in the private sector, whereas Supreme Court justices are given life tenure to slowly and incrementally remove the liberty of the very people who pay their salary.

Productive? Supreme Court Justices do more in a day to develop the field of law that most lawyers in their lifetime. What is productivity? Filling motions at the courthouse? Drafting a contract or two?

The whole judicial system rests on those Supreme Court justices. I think they are very productive.

Click to expand...

Lawyers provide a beneficial service to people on a daily basis in the private sector, whereas Supreme Court justices are given life tenure to slowly and incrementally remove the liberty of the very people who pay their salary.

Instead of narrowly focusing on your cherry picked cases let's look at an overall history of the Supreme Court which has generally allowed for the extreme expansion of the federal government at the expense of the states and the people.

Lawyers provide a beneficial service to people on a daily basis in the private sector, whereas Supreme Court justices are given life tenure to slowly and incrementally remove the liberty of the very people who pay their salary.

Instead of narrowly focusing on your cherry picked cases let's look at an overall history of the Supreme Court which has generally allowed for the extreme expansion of the federal government at the expense of the states and the people.

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The states is NOT the people. The federal government is as much an elected body as the state government. People can vote in both. They both represent the people.

I agree with you that the SCOTUS trajectory has been to "grant" more powers to the federal government (which anyways already started when the US moved from the Articles of Confederation to the US Constitution).

But even with that, it doesn't mean that this expansion has been at the expense of the people. If anything, it seems to me the federal courts have expanded people's rights especially in cases where state were limiting the rights of their citizens.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia thinks we have too many lawyers. He thinks young people should do something productive with their lives instead.

Heres Scalia:

"Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.

I mean thered be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isnt she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?"

If Scalia doesn't think lawyers are productive I wonder what he thinks of Supreme Court Justices?

I also thought Huebert's reasoning as to why there are so many lawyers was insightful as well.

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A dear friend of mine a retired judge and I had this conversation years ago. He said it is a quality issue and anyone can get into law school now. He said they lowered the standards for law school dramatically.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia thinks we have too many lawyers. He thinks young people should do something productive with their lives instead.

Heres Scalia:

"Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise.

I mean thered be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isnt she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?"

If Scalia doesn't think lawyers are productive I wonder what he thinks of Supreme Court Justices?

I also thought Huebert's reasoning as to why there are so many lawyers was insightful as well.

Click to expand...

A dear friend of mine a retired judge and I had this conversation years ago. He said it is a quality issue and anyone can get into law school now. He said they lowered the standards for law school dramatically.

Click to expand...

It certainly does not help that law schools are often money making projects (instead of being there to really form legal jurists)

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